Terrorism of the mundane: Al Qaeda's shift to street jihad tactics

I’ve often wondered when the Islamists would bring the kind of IED tactics that were deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq against western soldiers to the cities of North America. We’ve already had a taste of this kind of public terrorism that deliberately targets civilians with the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. But it the lasted edition of the Al Qaeda propaganda magazine is anything to go by, it won’t be the last.

Be that as it may, the most troubling aspect of the edition, at least from the viewpoint of western counter-terrorist agencies, is the advice being offered to would-be jihadists (and, as it seems, anyone with a grudge against contemporary western society). In a section entitled “Open Source Jihad,” readers are told how, acting as individuals or in small groups, they can hasten the fall of the West, particularly, the United States, by attacking Westerners in their malls, sports arenas and other public gathering places with homemade bombs.

As journalist Thomas Joscelyn writes in the latest edition ofThe Long War Journal, the article’s author, dubbed the “AQ Chef,” explains how a shrapnel bomb can be assembled from common household items, including cooking gas cylinders and nails. The device can be set off by a ‘martyrdom bomber,’ by a timer, or with a remote detonator. In the last instance, AQAP suggests a ‘toy-car remote, alarm remote, garage remote or any other,’ as long as the bomb maker tests the remote first.

“The ‘AQ Chef’ also offers what he calls ‘field data’ on the types of targets that should be attacked. ‘This type of car bomb is used to kill individuals and NOT to destroy buildings,’ he says. ‘Therefore, look for a dense crowd.’”

Indeed, the article tells would-be jihadists to target places ‘flooded with individuals, e.g. sports events in which tens of thousands attend, election campaigns, festivals and other gathering [sic]. The important thing is that you target people and not buildings.”

The United States “‘is our first target, followed by [the] United Kingdom, France and other crusader countries,” (which, presumably, includes the ‘crusader’ country of Canada), says the AQ Chef, advocating the targeting of places such as Washington DC, New York, northern Virginia, with its large military presence and government agencies – CIA headquarters at Langley? – and Chicago and Los Angeles.

And what would make good targets in these cities? According to the AQ Chef, jihadist should target vulnerable places where civilians gather – restaurants, bars, shopping malls, sports stadiums and tourist sites.

The Inspire article goes on to give advice on how to carry out such attacks, whether as “martyrdom operations” or by remote-detonation. Indeed, one suggest is for jihadis disguise themselves as Santa Claus during the Christmas holiday season. (I can too easily imagine that scenario in a crowded shopping mall).

None of this makes for pleasant reading, obviously, and, no doubt, there are those who would argue I should not be publicizing such “advice.” I don’t agree. In the first place, you can be sure the newbie jihadists are reading material wherever they can get it. And that’s all the more reason to subscribe to Sun Tzu’s advice in The Art of War: Know thy enemy (as well as yourself). As the ancient Chinese warrior-philosopher put it: “It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”

Arguably, one of the things to “know” from this edition of Inspire is the enemy’s shift in tactics. Al Qaeda has a reputation for going after high profile targets such as airliners and railway trains. But now, as it seems, there’s a new focus on what might be called the terrorism of the mundane. As one commentator observes, “Overall, there are some subtle changes within this issue that analysts should take note of that bespeak a change in thought to a more global approach … This issue seeks to reach the ‘lone wolf’ audience and broach the field of operations in the West as opposed to the Ummah (Muslim countries) … which has been the standard of the magazine from nearly the beginning.”

The biggest change in Inspire, according to this observer, is a shift in tone from “a more Koran-centric and pedantic messaging to a more political and Western thought driven methodology. Through the course of the magazine the writers have been coming to grips with trying to motivate the Westerner to action while doing so with the call of jihad through the Koran and their particular spin on it. Over time I believe they have come to realize that to reach the Western audience that may be enamored but unwilling to act solely on the Koranic call to jihad they have to reason with them in a more Western manner. In this issue there is a much more political and economic spin that attempts to spark a response in a Westerner against the actions of America in particular …

In other words, the Islamists are looking to lure disaffected young people, presumably Muslim. Indeed, the magazine is explicit on this point, offering “sincere advice from a muhajir” urging “my dear brothers and sister of the Muslim nation, especially those who for some reason are still residing in Europe and the USA to join the every growing ranks of the Mujahiddeen in the last of Jihad or do operations inside Dar-ul-Kufir (“the lands of disbelief,” or, in other words, the West).

“You don’t even have to do it as a group. Do it on your own. Don’t tell anyone, not even your closest friends. And remember that you have so many tools available. If you need ideas just go online … “

Need more evidence? Consider this little tidbit of pro-terror testimony in the magazine:

“Therefore, if you ask me as a tactic, is targeting the civilian population of the West a good thing to do? I would say yes, because it is much more potent and powerful. Soldiers are expected to die anyway. That’s why they sign up for the army, to fight and kill or be killed. So a soldier is at risk anyway and that risk is factored into his job. But a civilian is not. So when you hit the civilian you hit them where it hurts most and that is what our tactics are about.”

That kind of advice undoubtedly gives counter-intelligence agents nightmares. The idea of even a few anonymous self-appointed jihadis launching their private terror campaigns in the public spaces of North America, well, it’s a scenario that undoubtedly gives counter-intelligence agents nightmares.

Now, to repeat myself, there will be those who say I’m encouraging terrorism by the very act of informing readers about the latest nastiness from the Islamist. Again, I disagree. I lived in London when the IRA was setting of in the 1970s. What quickly became clear was that defeating the IRA wasn’t just a matter for the military and the security services. Londoners themselves, citizens who were made aware of the threat against them, were utterly crucial in preventing terrorist bombings. Being informed of the enemy’s tactics and intentions and learning to be vigilant in public places — I still remember scanning train compartments for seemingly abandoned suitcases and keeping an eye out for supposedly unattended packages under theater seats – was also necessary.

Of course, it didn’t always work. Bombs did go off. People were killed. But I dare say there were fewer successful attacks because civilians were recruited to the anti-terror campaign. Inspire may be directed at “lone wolf” terrorists, but it also has a message for Westerners – the Islamists want to bring terror to the streets and shops of North America.

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